Marclay's "Manga Scroll": Sound Effects as a Visual Art

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Christian Marclay, American visual artist and composer, has created a brand new 'graphic score' titled "Manga Scroll". It borrows its style from Japanese Manga comics, using onomatopoeic words and phrases sewn together to produce a sixty-foot long chain of sound effects madness. It's a neat idea, and - traversing visual and aural mediums - could be of great interest to the sound design community. The piece is currently on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art, as part of Christian Marclay: Festival. Check it out at the official website here.

What's more, as a 'graphic score', it is has also been performed! Joan la Barbara, composer and sound artist, showcased her interpretation of Manga Scroll on July 16. Take a look at a video of the performance below:

Think you could read those sounds aloud more accurately? Was that left hook more of a BAM! or a POW!? Stay tuned to the PSE blog for our next competition, highly related to the content of today's blog post.... and a whole host of free sound effects to our winner!